I have been getting interesting emails on the food China Olympics 2008 Patrons were able to sample lately. It's an amusing to see as it reminded me of our last day in Chengdu, China. After having visited the Panda Adventure, we decided to go around the city since our train ride going down south of China will be in the evening. Riding a bus, our eyes caught this highly ornament looking street that we just decided to go down.

I have been getting interesting emails on the food China Olympics 2008 Patrons were able to sample lately. It’s an amusing to see as it reminded me of our last day in Chengdu, China. After having visited the Panda Adventure, we decided to go around the city since our train ride going down south of China will be in the evening. Riding a bus, our eyes caught this highly ornamented looking street that we just decided to go down and check it out.

Jiang Yuan Gong Sou Street

We stumbled upon Jiang Yuan Gong Sou Street and found old looking establishments, vendor and souvenir stalls and exotic looking restaurants. The statues placed on various points of the streets were really amusing and adds a lively contrast to the old wooden color of the structures along the streets.

Beef Pancake, Broken Hearted Noodles and Rice Dumpling

But what elated us more (or our stomachs rather) is having found this “Good Eat Street” at a corner along Jiang Yuan Gong Sou Street. It has an intersecting street full of stalls with numerous street foods being sold. Initially I tried a set of Rice dumplings (5 RMB), Beef Pancake (5 RMB) and a Broken Hearted Noodle (4 RMB). The rice dumpling wasn’t really a fave, the noodle was amusing as the vendor told us it will lift up your spirits. The noodle is thick and cool and what made it flavorful was the chili soup that comes with it. As for the lifting of the spirits? I’m not sure as it taste ordinary for me. Hehe. The Beef pancake is on the crunchy side and good, I wish there were more meat inside though.

BBQ Tofu and Mushroom

Looking for more food variety there’s this interesting BBQ stall behind us. Though I still don’t know how to speak Chinese, hand signals sufficed even buying food there on my own. I grabbed a couple of Mushroom and Tofu on Sticks. I love their BBG, especially their chili sauce.

Plum Tea Drink

To wash down what we were eating I grabbed one of those ready Plum Tea Juices for 3RMB (With plum seeds still on the juice). It was a refreshing drink to alleviate the strong flavors of the food. There are other treats we tried, I especially like the baby potatoes on chili my friend ordered but I wasn’t able to take photos.

Chinese Exotic Street Foods

It was an interesting late afternoon lunch and we simply enjoyed the place staying there for most of the afternoon. The food is cheap and a lot to choose from. There are other interesting delights there like this one stall we found selling dried starfish, seahorse, live mini scorpions, grilled silk worms, cicadas, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers and some I couldn’t recognize. It was straight out from a Fear Factor delicacy which I think I’m not ready to try out yet. Maybe if I was hungry and hadn’t eaten anything before I would. But would you?

Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics just a few days ahead, I thought I feature one of China's beloved National Treasure, the Pandas. Those droopy blotched-eyes and thick white fur are just so adorable that a kid would easily mistake them for a living stuffed toy. Pandas have been considered as a "living fossil" since they have walked among the saber-toothed cats in the Pleistocene period and have miraculously survived the changing earth conditions until this time. They have been a symbol of conservation that's why it's no wonder the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) used the Panda as their main logo for their cause. In China Chengdu, we were lucky enough to get up close and personal with these creatures at the largest Giant Panda Eco-Park in the World - the Panda Adventure.

Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics just a few days ahead, I thought I feature one of China’s beloved National Treasure, the Pandas. Those droopy blotched-eyes and thick white fur are just so adorable that a kid would easily mistake them for a living stuffed toy. Pandas have been considered as a “living fossil” since they have walked among the saber-toothed cats in the Pleistocene period and have miraculously survived the changing earth conditions until this time. They have been a symbol of conservation that’s why it’s no wonder the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) used the Panda as their main logo for their cause. In China Chengdu, we were lucky enough to get up close and personal with these creatures at the largest Giant Panda Eco-Park in the World – the Panda Adventure.

Walking along the Panda Adventure Park

The Panda Adventure is also known as the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. We never really planned to go there but due to an unexpected detour I told before, we had to change some plans. And I’m quite thankful that we were able to visit the place and see them live. They are more adorable seeing them in person that I almost exhausted a gig of my memory card just taking pictures of them.

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is found on the northern suburbs of Chengdu, less than a half hour drive by Taxi from the city center, tail end of Panda Road. The area spans a large 105-hectares and has garnered wide accolades from conservation societies and groups. The entrance fee to the park is only 30 RMB.

Panda Back to back

There is a map at the reception area which also houses the first Panda Museum in the World. Do take time to look around the life-size diorama displays on the Natural History of the Pandas. It’s both educational and entertaining. Souvenirs can also be bought there. I remember buying a few ref magnets and a shirt as well.

Panda Hiding

The park is pretty huge but navigating around is pretty easy. If you don’t want to walk there’s a ride available as well. The temperature there is pretty cool. There are lots of flora that is naturally growing in the area as well. There are around 400 known species of plants and other faunas aside from the giant pandas like the swans and the egrets.

Panda Droopy Eyes

There area a number of Panda Enclosures scattered throughout the park. The first one we stumbled upon was the Adult Panda Enclosure. There were 3 grown pandas there. It was morning and their snack time so we were lucky to catch them really active. It was real fun looking at them. How I envy their life of sleeping, eating playing, rolling and just being their cutesy self. Not being a predatory animal since they feed on plants, it’s a real wonder how they survived all this times.

Panda in Slumber

Pandas are naturally solitary animals. They enjoy spending days on long naps. When awake, they play around with other Pandas or munch on some bamboos. I was really amused seeing them eat. They don’t just eat the bamboos as is, they peel of the skins first and eat only what’s inside.

Panda Fun Snack

And boy do they really love to sleep. There was this other enclosure when we found a couple of Pandas snoozing on top of a tree. A researcher/ care taker came by to give him a biscuit which has his regular vitamins and medications. I forgot the name of the Panda but the caretaker was calling up to him. The Panda could hear this but simply covered his face as if it doesn’t want to be disturbed. Real Funny. Eventually when he saw the other Panda eating below he went down and joined in on the snacks.

Red Panda Glance

Another interesting animal I got to see on a couple of enclosures are the Red Pandas, also known as the Lesser Panda or the other popular web browser the Firefox. They are not as big as common Giant Pandas but really cute as well. These agile little animals are quicker on their feet and looks more like an overgrown cat. They are mostly herbivores as well.

Red Panda Eats

I really enjoyed seeing these creatures in life instead of just looking at them in pictures or watching them on National Geographic. They are adorable creatures and with the destruction of some of the forests in the mountains, I’m glad there are research and breeding centers like the Panda Adventure which helps conserve these animals and also serves as a sanctuary for them. I was hoping to take one of them as a pet, but I think that’s not likely to happen.

On the recent major earthquake in China, one of the cities that was majorly affected was Dujiangyan City since it was close to the epicenter of the quake. It's devastating to know that schools were some of structures badly damaged. I'm dedicating this post to the victims of the quake. Dujiangyan is a pretty little City just lying a little west, up north of Chengdu City. We visited another UNESCO World Heritage Site there which is the Dujiangyan Irrigation System.

On the recent major earthquake in China, one of the cities that was majorly affected was Dujiangyan City since it was close to the epicenter of the quake. It’s devastating to know that schools were some of structures badly damaged. I’m dedicating this post to the victims of the quake. Dujiangyan is a pretty little City just lying a little west, up north of Chengdu City. We visited another UNESCO World Heritage Site there which is the Dujiangyan Irrigation System.

Dujiangyan City

Our bus fare from Chengdu cost only 17RMB and in less than an hour we alighted in front of the park entrance. Park Entrance Fee is 90 RMB. The Dujiangyan Irrigation System is a World Heritage Site due to its architectural and engineering wonder even if it was constructed way way back in 250 BC. Historically, the town was known as Guanxian, but was renamed in honor of this irrigation system, which many consider as a Dam which is not a Dam.

Dujiangyan Yuleishan Park

The mastermind for this irrigation system was Li Bing. He was given 100,000 teals of silver by King Zhao of Qin to construct a dam at the Min River to prevent floods when the river swells. It was a plague for people who live near the banks at that time. Originally, he planned to build a dam but since he was in charge of keeping the river waterways open for transporting military vessels he need to find another way to do this.

Dujiangyan Basket Full of Stones

With a team of tens of thousands men at his disposal, he headed the construction of a sausage-shaped levee woven from bamboo baskets filled with Zhulong stones. This levee was held by wooden tripods known as Macha. To divide the river further, he had to break the mountain rocks to widen the mountain gouge. Since there were no gunpowder at those times, he had to make use of fire and water to heat, cool and crack the hard rocks of the mountain. The construction of the levee took 4 years while the widening took 8 years.

Fish Mouth Levee Walk

After the construction of this levee, floods no longer plagued the city and the military vessels are still free to ply the river. Because of this system Sichuan also became the most agriculturally productive place in China. Li Bing was loved by the people that the Chinese built a shrine in his remembrance. The laid back life of the Chinese was also attributed to him. Because of the construction of this levee, he eliminated natural disasters and ensured bountiful harvest most of the time, giving the locals more free time than they needed.

Fish Mouth Levee

The Dujiangyen Irrigation System, even at this time, has served the people of Sichuan. Of course this time around, the structure has already been strenghtened with modern construction materials. We visited the actual levee. It looks more like a park with neatly lined trees along the road. on the north after a few minutes of walk, you’ll find the Fish Mouth Levee where the river divides.

Min River Flow

Visually, it’s not a sight to be wowed on. If you want a better view of the levee and the river system, you can climb the Qincheng mountains for a wider view. Being on the actual levee doesn’t offer much views except for a close inspection of the structure and the running river.

Dujiangyan City Bridge

We left the park after a couple of hours and decided to explore a little of this riverside city. There was this elaborate bridge that caught our attention ever since we got off the bus. I don’t know what the name of the bridge is but the details were really amusing with all the patterns and all. It seems to be a recent construction, but eye catching nevertheless.

Dujiangyan City Bridge Path

We crossed the bridge to find a little town that seems to be lined with commercial establishments. From restaurants serving different dishes to souvenir shops. Looks pretty scenic since it’s nearby the river. We didn’t spend too much time there as we have an afternoon bus to catch back at Chengdu City.

Tofu has been one of my favorite dishes and whenever I had a chance to eat at a local Chinese Restaurant, I would sometimes order a Mapo Tofu. It's one of my favorite Chinese dish with tofu, minced beef swimming in the red sea of chili and spicy sauce. This fiery dish has also been popular around the world. When we were in Chengdu, China we made sure not to miss eating Mapo Tofu on where the dish was actually created - at Chen's Mapo Tofu Restaurant.

Tofu has been one of my favorite dishes and whenever I had a chance to eat at a local Chinese Restaurant, I would sometimes order a Mapo Tofu. It’s one of my favorite Chinese dish with tofu, minced beef swimming in the red sea of chili and spicy sauce. This fiery dish has also been popular around the world. When we were in Chengdu, China we made sure not to miss eating Mapo Tofu on where the dish was actually created – at Chen’s Mapo Tofu Restaurant.

Chen Mapo Tofu Restaurant Interiors

Chen’s Mapo Tofu Restaurant goes way back in 1862 during the Qing Dyansty (1644-1911). First found at Wanfu Bridge, north suburb of Chengdu, the restaurant was called Chen Xingshng Eating House. Mrs Chen was the main chef then. She cooked a tofu dish in bright red color, crispy beef cubes and spicy hot tofu diced in beautiful shapes.

Chili BBQ Fish on sticks

The story of how the name Mapo Tofu came to be is quite interesting. Mrs Chen was a pockmarked woman who was only allowed to stay at the outskirts of the city due to her appearance. She lived by the roadside where travelers usually traverse. During those times, rich merchants usually stay within the city. One stormy night, a father and son had to find shelter at the outskirts and ended up at Mrs Chen’s home. She made them the dish on what we now called Mapo Tofu. The two found it so delicious that whenever they visit the city, they would drop by her place to eat. Soon after more people start visiting her home. Gourmands at those time also frequented the place and soon it became one of China’s famous dish. Some people soon started calling the dish Chen Mapo Tofu which literally means “bean curd made by a pockmarked woman“. The word Ma comes from the word mazi meaning pockmarked while po means old woman.

Chili Rabbit

The restaurant, of course, at this time moved locations yet still retains the way they cook the Mapo Tofu as grandma Chen did. It is now located within the city where we just walked a couple of blocks away from Tian Fu Plaza. It was actually already late at night and thought we wouldn’t catch it open but there were still a few customers inside. I was excited to taste the Mapo Tofu and it didn’t disappoint. I could say the taste was ambrosial. The best tasting mapo tofu ever. And the key was with the numbing spice through the mixture of ground and fried sichuan pepper.

We ordered some other dish like the BBQ Fish on Sticks and Chili Rabbit. The BBQ fish had too many fish bones for me, but the chili toppings on it was also delicious. I’m new to eating a rabbit and the meat taste good, but a bit too bony for me. Well not surprising since Sichuan Cuisines are more often than not has more bones since they believe the meat closer to the bones is more tastier.

Eating at Chen’s Mapo Tofu Restaurant is a dining experience spanning more than a couple centuries old. It’s one of China’s culinary heritage that’s clearly still alive and serving at this time.

During our backpacking expedition in South West China, I'm always on the lookout for fellow kababayans which we may have crossed path with on our journey. I know its a sign of missing home a bit but being in a place for days where you only hear foreign languages being spoken, it's a big relief to hear and see a fellow Pinoys along the way. Unfortunately throughout our 11 days in China, we only caught a couple who we heard spoke in Tagalog. Wasn't able to took to them though since they quite a distance already. Few weeks after I posted Charming Chengdu, hearing a Pinoy living and working in Chengdu was still a relief even if I'm no longer there. I wanted to know the conditions there right now after the earthquake so I asked John, a Filipino Architect living and working in Chengdu.

During our backpacking expedition in South West China, I’m always on the lookout for fellow kababayans which we may cross path with on our journey. I know its a sign of missing home a bit but being in a place for days where you only hear foreign languages being spoken, it’s a big relief to hear and see a fellow Pinoys along the way. Unfortunately throughout our 11 days in China, we only caught a couple who we heard spoke in Tagalog. Wasn’t able to took to them though since they quite a distance already. Few weeks after I posted Charming Chengdu, hearing a Pinoy living and working in Chengdu was still a relief even if I’m no longer there. I wanted to know the conditions there right now after the earthquake so I asked John, a Filipino Architect living and working in Chengdu.

Wenshu Temple Ticket Wall

Excerpt from our email:

“the earthquake here last may 12 devastated many outlying towns of Sichuan, but it barely touched Chengdu city. one major reason why so many died in the towns of Beichuan and Wenchuan is because of the shabby construction of their dwellings and public buildings. most of their structures here especially houses don’t have proper steel reinforcements. they do this to save money and because they don’t care for their safety. many people died on the spot because it only took seconds for the houses, schools, and hospitals among others, to collapse; there was basically nothing to hold their structures together to give them enough time to escape. i just arrived from my philippine holiday that day at lunchtime, just an hour before the big quake, and it happened when i was getting ready to report for work. at first i thought i was jetlagged from the three plane rides i took. i live on the 16th floor of a 30-storey apartment building and at 8.0 on the richter scale it suddenly felt like being on a train on a bumpy track for about a minute. i really thought everything was going to collapse when i heard the walls cracking and chipping off in my spare room. but the building held. in the streets below i saw people from everywhere flock in panic in the middle of the intersections. it was the pandemonium i remembered the most.

Wenshu Temple Incense Burning

after that day we experienced over two hundred aftershocks in the span of about a month. after a while we just got used to it and it didn’t bother us anymore. the human casualty in this tragedy is around 80,000, but who knows if this figure is really accurate. and the loss to property and business is in the billions of dollars. the chinese government has responded well to this catastrophe, you must have already seen this on tv. one thing that china is good at is the immediate mobilization of hundreds of thousands of rescue and aid workers, something that is almost impossible in a non-communist country. china’s proper and transparent handling of the situation has given it a lot of “face” and has helped ease world pressure on areas in which it has miserably failed (e.g. on Darfur and Tibet).

Passing by Prayer Wheels

it’s almost back to normal around here. rebuilding in the affected areas has started and is progressing well. there is money to spare because the red cross here has received tens of billions of dollars from concerned chinese and foreigners around the world. the people have come to accept the loss and are starting to move on with their lives with assistance from the government. for us filipinos working here, it’s just another chapter in our lives as ofw’s, one we’ve long accepted as part of the risk we’re taking when working abroad. one thing for sure, because of this horrible experience i will never forget this place.”

A scene at Jiang Yuan Gong Suo Street

There are around 400 Filipinos in Chengdu, China and John is one of those overseas workers living there. His wife is in Iloilo which likewise has been struck by a major calamity caused by Typhoon Frank, which also needs some attention. You can read more about his personal and post-mortem account of the China Earthquake at his blog.

Wenshu’s Flower Shop and Bell Temple

I’m really glad to know that somehow technology can bridge boundaries to our fellow Kababayans. And it feels good to know that Chengdu wasn’t hit that much since it’s one of the cities I really enjoyed even on a brief stay. Although i am sad to know that Dujiangyan, another place we visited was one of those majorly affected by the quake.

Thousand Buddha Peace Pagoda at Wenshu Temple

Calamities and devastation have been hitting all over the places and have been claiming hundreds of thousands of lives already. On the local front, we are still dealing with the overturned boat at Sibuyan Sea in Romblon and the flash floods causing major damage to the lives of the people in Iloilo. Unlike China though, our government isn’t as fast in responding to situations like this. For us fortunate ones, we can only offer prayers or give certain amounts of donations to charities or groups of our choice which are also helping alleviate this condition.

I'll be trying to post some entries every other day just to catch up on some of my entries. I hope it would not cause some confusion as I jump from one feature destination to another. It would be more helpful clicking on the tags so you could get an outline of the series. My South West China chronicle hasn't even reached the middle part yet. I decided to hold it for a while after the quake which hit the area a few weeks ago. Knowing China's capabilities in infrastructure, I know the city structures there would be up in no time. Still it's a big hit in terms of people's condition.

I’ll be trying to post some entries every other day just to catch up on some of my back logs. I hope it would not cause some confusion as I jump from one feature destination to another. It would be more helpful clicking on the tags so you could get an outline of the series. My South West China chronicle hasn’t even reached the middle part yet. I decided to hold it for a while after the quake which hit the area a few weeks ago. Knowing China’s capabilities in infrastructure, I know the city structures there would be up in no time. Still it’s a big hit in terms of people’s condition.

Idyling the afternoon at the park

After descending Emeishan, we were supposed to catch the night bus going to Chengdu. But I had a really bad headache when we got down from the mountain that afternoon. It must have been the altitude. Simultaneously climbing up and down the mountain without proper acclimatization could have caused this. Even some of the passengers at the bus going down were already puking out. I downed an Ibuprofen + Paracetamol I had in my medicine kit and rested that evening.

Lovely Old Couple reading a book

We stayed a night at Teddy Bear Hotel in Emeishan. It’s a really nice place by the way with really big and clean rooms for it’s price. The general manager, Andy, can speak English and the place is really homey. Try also their mushroom dish along with their pork and bamboo shoots. It’s well coked with fresh ingredients. Free wifi is also available at the lobby and dining area.

Lantern path to park monument

We checked out early the next day to catch the early bus going to Chengdu. Unfortunately we missed the first bus at 8am since it took time from our breakfast. But it was ok, buses leaves every hour and we rolled on the next bus by 9am. What I really liked here in China is that most of the time, buses or any other transportation leaves on time.

Lemon and Chrysanthemum Tea at the Park

The bus ride to Chengdu from Emeishan took around 2 to 3 hours. When we got down at the city, I let my friend navigate since all the bus signs and charts at the stops were in Chinese. Luckily, it’s much easier to manage here than in Chongqing. Our priority at that time was to reserve our bus to Jiuzhaigou at Chandianzi Bus Station. After a few hops we finally got there and reserved the morning tickets the next day.

Stretching after an exercise

Next was to find Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel, a backpacker’s hostel ran by a Singaporean couple in the city. It was funny because we had trouble finding the place. Found out it was inside a building facility and their main sign was being setup at that time since they just moved location. Anyways, it was a very nice place to meet many other backpackers in the area since the young staffs here can speak English very well.

An afternoon game of Go

My friend realized when we got there that we should have just gotten the afternoon bus to Jiuzhaigou instead so after dropping off our stuff we took a taxi to Chandianzi station and re-booked our tickets to the afternoon bus with a little additional charges. After everything has been settled we proceeded to explore the city.

A group of musicians practicing their craft

We just took the public bus since it was really easy to go around the city with it. What’s more, it’s really cheap. Mostly we paid 1 Chinese Yuan where ever stops we go. But as expected, not all buses are really clean. Bus tickets scattered on the floor, again some spits can be found in the area. But I’ve gotten used to this already.

Afternoon read

We decided to spend the afternoon at Chengdu’s People’s Park. I thought it would be a nice place to hang out while observing the locals. The park is located within the center of the city, and when we got there, it was bustling with activity. I found the park well landscaped and well layout as well.

A mobile Videoke

Going around, I was fond watching the laid back life the Chinese here. People aren’t really much in a hurry. Most old folks spend their time playing cards, Chinese chess and go. There were afternoon dance class, a tai chi session or just run around the park for that needed exercise.

Dancing at the park

Another favorite activity is spending their time at the tea houses. There were students playing some cards and with real money at stake. Some middle aged women, probably moms scattering some majong tiles on their tables. Other groups were simply talking. Most of them were nibbling on some pumpkin and squash seeds. Aside from the occasional badgering of some touts who would like to demonstrate a “tea ritual” with a brush that would probably be good at cleaning one’s ear, it’s a very peaceful place.

Tai Chi moves at the afternoon

We sat nearby the lake which somehow reminds me of Burnham Park in Baguio. The weather was cool and getting colder while the sun was setting down behind the city skyline. I was amused at the tea we had. They used the real thing. They served a lemon and a chrysanthemum and gave us a thermos of hot water in case we would like to refill our glasses. It was an enjoyable laid back afternoon. This is Chengdu. I could live here for a while, I told my friend.

I know in our country we already have a lot of problems to take care of. Like the recent Typhoon Cosme which ravaged Zambales and left a few people dead, the rising prices and even worse, politics. I seldom read or watch the news so I'm not really updated on political situations but in environmental and calamity news, I make sure to pay attention. When I learned about the Cyclone that hit Burma (didn't even know Cyclones exist here in south east Asia) I was devastated by the news. And I was more surprised recently on what happened to Sichuan China lately. That 7.9 earthquake which hit south-west China left more than 3000 people dead. For this I offer my deepest condolences to the families, victims and the Chinese government.

I know in our country we already have a lot of problems to take care of. Like the recent Typhoon Cosme which ravaged Zambales and left a few people dead, the rising prices and even worse, politics. I seldom read or watch the news so I’m not really updated on political situations but in environmental and calamity news, I make sure to pay attention. When I learned about the Cyclone that hit Burma (didn’t even know Cyclones exist here in south east Asia) I was devastated by the news. And I was more surprised recently on what happened to Sichuan China lately. That 7.9 earthquake which hit south-west China left more than 3000 people dead. For this I offer my deepest condolences to the families, victims and the Chinese government.

Aisle of Flowers at Dujiangyan, Sichuan

Honestly, if I hadn’t been there a few months ago, I wouldn’t be too concerned about what happened. It was just a few months ago when I was walking at the streets of Chengdu and Dujiangyan and now seeing those video clips from CNN and the news was really hard to muster. I actually told myself when I was there that I could practically love that city and can live there for a time. I somehow empathize with the people there and hope the pass through these trying times.

Wenshu temple Wall Lantern in Chengdu

After 8 days since the earthquake tragedy, 34000+ dead found and more than 250000 people hurt, China still cries for hope and strength. Today is also the start of their mourning. It’s a pity I could do nothing physically from where I am to help those in need there in China, likewise for the cyclone victims in Myanmar. What I can only do now is to immortalize the good memories and images of those places a few months before this tragedy happened. I am also hoping that China’s heritage wasn’t damaged as well. This is a sad thing indeed. Something that even our country should be prepared for. Our planet is changing, I hope we are ready enough to face those changes.